Mac Miller was madly in love in 2016. By that point, he was coming off of some of his most depressed, despondent music of his career. But then he started dating Ariana Grande. All of a sudden, the music started getting a lot rosier and warmer. Eventually, it resulted in The Divine Feminine, which released on this day 10 years ago.
The album is decidedly jazzier than the typical Mac affair, coating his raps and soft singing with cozy chords and addictive drum breaks. Intimacy is the key word for The Divine Feminine, transfixed on the closeness of sex and the stirring emotions that come with such a deep connection.
Mac Miller made one thing abundantly clear at the time: it wasn’t just about Ariana Grande. Although their deliriously sweet duet “My Favorite Part” feels essential to its concept, it was actually made late into the album’s recording process.
“A lot of people think it’s a whole album about her,” he told Vogue. “And I get it. It makes sense. But ‘My Favorite Part’ was actually one of the last songs we made [on the album]. I had talked about doing a record with her for the album. We hadn’t talked in a really long time, and I bring her this song, and then we go to the studio and do her part. And then, after that… we started spending more time together.”
Mac Miller Made His Most Romantic Album On This Day 10 Years Ago
Ultimately, The Divine Feminine was created from a nagging feeling that Miller didn’t know how to capture love in his music. “I really like love as a concept.” he explained to Billboard. “On the last album, I realized there’s no love songs, and I wanted to do a project based around that.”
A decade later, Mac Miller has arguably the biggest song of his career taking off in “Cinderella”. Typical for the platform, the song went randomly viral on TikTok. People online frequently made nostalgic and/or romantic videos with Ty Dolla $ign’s crooning or the majestic production in the background. So far, it has peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and currently resides at number 35.
To celebrate 10 years of The Divine Feminine, the Mac Miller estate is releasing an anniversary version of the album. It will contain three extra songs that were made during the recording process of the album.
The post 10 Years Ago Today, Mac Miller Released The Deeply Romantic Album That Spawned a Massive Hit Song a Decade Later appeared first on VICE.
